Definition: This entry gives a figure for the average number of children that would be born per woman if all women lived to the end of their childbearing years and bore children according to a given fertility rate at each age. The total fertility rate (TFR) is a more direct measure of the level of fertility than the crude birth rate, since it refers to births per woman. This indicator shows the potential for population change in the country. A rate of two children per woman is considered the replacement rate for a population, resulting in relative stability in terms of total numbers. Rates above two children indicate populations growing in size and whose median age is declining. Higher rates may also indicate difficulties for families, in some situations, to feed and educate their children and for women to enter the labor force. Rates below two children indicate populations decreasing in size and growing older. Global fertility rates are in general decline and this trend is most pronounced in industrialized countries, especially Western Europe, where populations are projected to decline dramatically over the next 50 years.

Source: CIA World Factbook - Unless otherwise noted, information in this page is accurate as of January 1, 2012

New Zealand's 'baby blip' officially over as fertility rate dropsNew Zealand Herald - 2/17/2015 11:03:53 PM
New Zealand's fertility rate has dropped below two births per woman for the first time in a decade, officially ending a "baby blip" that peaked in 2008 just before the global recession hit. Statistics NZ says the country's total fertility rate - the number ...

UAE healthcare firm buys $163m stake in Spanish fertility clinicArabian Business - 2/28/2015 9:50:35 AM
According to a report by the World Health Organisation in 2010, fertility rates in all six Gulf countries dropped significantly between 1990 and 2008. In the UAE particularly, a UN report said the Arab state had one of the fastest declining birth rates in ...

Warning Bell for Developed Countries: Declining Birth RatesForbes - 10/16/2012 6:28:12 PM
... rate that keeps a population stable—for developed countries is 2.1, yet nearly half the world’s population has birth rates lower than that. The U.S. has a total fertility rate (TFR) of 2.0—nearly the replacement rate—with Hispanic immigrants ...

Slumping Fertility Rates in Developing Countries Spark Labor WorriesWall Street Journal - 3/20/2014 5:48:20 AM
BAAN TAM TA KEM, Thailand—Slumping fertility rates aren't just a problem for ... note that already more than half the world's population lives in aging countries where the fertility rate is less than 2.1 children per woman—the rate required to replace ...

China's central bank cuts rates again to boost economyNewsbug Information - 2/28/2015 11:59:26 AM
BEIJING (AP) — China's central bank cut interest rates for the second ... will vary depending on a country's exposure to China. In the U.S., Bryson said most people won't notice the impact at all. While U.S. exports to China total about $100 billion ...

World Cup 2015: Star India hikes ad rates after India's performanceEconomic Times - 2/27/2015 1:09:13 AM
NEW DELHI: Star India, official broadcaster of the ongoing cricket World Cup, has lost no time in hiking ad rates for the tournament even further ... people in India - the most watched event in the country since the last World Cup final, according to ...

China to cut interest rates by 0.25%: PBoCMENAFN - 3/1/2015 9:13:37 AM
(MENAFN - Gulf Times) China's central bank yesterday announced that it will cut the benchmark deposit and loan interest rates by 25 basis points, as authorities seek to prop up flagging growth in the world's second ... state of the country's economy.

Some Highly Developed Countries See Increased FertilityWashington Post - 8/9/2009 11:56:23 PM
sometimes far below the replacement rate in some of the world's most highly developed nations, such as Japan, South Korea, Germany, Spain and Italy. "There was a consensus that as countries develop, become richer and provide more education, that fertility ...

World population to peak by 2055: reportCNBC - 9/9/2013 11:52:03 AM
The world population will peak at 8.7 billion people in ... South Korea and Brazil now have the largest declines in fertility. He argued that poorer countries needed a higher total fertility rate (TFR) -- the average number of live births per woman over ...